Disappointed in the church we chose today. It was a free church, obviously renting out space in a large building as there were other things advertised as going on there during the week. We had difficulty getting into the building and once inside had to follow signs up some stairs along a corridor and across a hall etc. No one around and it was deathly quiet. We both decided we didn't want to go any further so went back to Charis and off we went.

Found lovely mooring just a couple of miles out of Leigh, moored up and watched the Wimbledon final. Great match. I didn't really mind who won, just wanted to see both men play at their best. Enjoyed Wimbledon fortnight but glad it's over now as it does restrict what we do

Getting more used to the Leeds and Liverpool canal now. We hardly ever pass any moored boats so can move along quite quickly. We knew that the locks were only 60' long and I was a bit worried that we wouldn't fit in but luckily we did. Bryan said that the locks would take us 4 hours. These are double locks and we started up them on our own for the first 5 locks. Five and a half hours later we got through the last one. It definitely would have taken us a lot longer if we weren't fortunate enough to have another boat share the last 18 locks with us. As we didn't get moored up (on lock bollards tut tut) till 7.30 we decided to eat at the pub. Will explore the local area tomorrow. Just want to rest my weary feet now.

Tuesday 10th

1 mile

We had arranged to meet with Judith Marsh (nee Cannon) and her 3 boys today so got off the lock mooring bollards and into a space and waited

. And it rained, of course, though it had stopped by the time Judy and co arrived. Had a lovely time with them all and Brenda (ma in law) came too, bonus. The last time we saw William he was only months old and now he's 4. Tom, his next brother in line, kept us all on our toes and Lucus (Lucas) dozed. It was so good to see them all. I do love being able to catch up with folk as we go around the country.

Knowing it was due to rain again about 4, we thought we would move on and find a spot for the night. We only went one mile. We saw piling and a lovely location so pulled in. Sure enough it started to rain about 30 minutes later. Have moored outside Haigh Hall Country Park. Haigh Hall was previously the home of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres and is a listed building dating back to 1850. It is now used for weddings and conferences etc. It is surrounded by 250 acres of park, woodland and plantations with magnificent views across the Douglas Valley to the Welsh hills. Perhaps we might even get to see them if the sky clears. There is also a golf course and (apparently) no entrance fee to get into the park.